Past and Future
by Ultra Rodimus
Summary: A hole in time lands an Autobot from the future in the past. Can he find a way back to his own time without changing history? Read and review please! Now COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I've had this idea swimming around in my head for a while now, so I decided that it was time to get it out. "Metal and Neon" is in the process of winding down; it's not finished yet but it's getting close, and this fic idea has been getting more insistent lately. So here is the prologue; tell me if this fic is worth following to completion (even if you say it's not I'm gonna finish it anyway; it's been driving me crazy and I want it out of my head).

This fic takes place sometime after "Metal and Neon" and the way I have it planned will explain a few things about the earliest stories in this series. If you read "Transformation" then you know that Wheeljack was the one who originally designed Ultra Rodimus, who had the schematics ready when Rodimus Prime was dying. But didn't you ever wonder where he got his inspiration?

Disclaimer: I don't own the Transformers. I wish I did, 'cause then I would be very rich, but I don't. I do own the characters of Ultra Rodimus and Falcon. Everyone else belongs to people with really powerful lawyers.

**Past and Future**

**Prologue: Touching History**

Time is a strange thing. It seems to pass so fast and yet so slowly, never changing its path but flowing forever in one direction. At least, that is the belief. But Time is more like a piece of string in the wind, kinking and twisting and looping. When the loops of Time come close together, it can trigger intense flashbacks in people. But if the coils of Time actually _touch..._ who knows what might happen.

Ultra Rodimus didn't even know what hit him. One moment he was driving back to Iacon from the newly-built Stargate complex in the Badlands, the next he was inside some kind of distortion. It was nothing like a dimensional gateway. Instead of being a tunnel this new anomaly was like a rip in the air, a hole in reality itself. Its edges flared and burned him whenever it touched his armor. He transformed, struggling against the whatever-it-was that had him. Failing that, he tried to call for help but something had scrambled his comlink.

The lifebond he shared with Ultra Magnus flared. He could feel his mate's alarm and worry. Ultra Rodimus reached out a mental hand, touching his mate's mind.

(Help me!)

Then it pulled him in.

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Magnus had been conversing with several other Autobots when the first sense of _wrongness _hit him. He stiffened, optics going wide, head snapping up, staring at something only he could see. The group around him fell silent and watched him carefully, knowing that the only thing that would make him react like that was something coming through his lifebond. And that meant that something had happened to their leader.

Everyone who saw Magnus freeze wondered what could possibly have gone wrong this time. Not too long ago they'd come back from another dimension, having beaten off an attempted invasion by the Decepticons. Perceptor's specially-constructed sensors had shown that the opening had closed, and there had been no new weak spots detected. But if it wasn't a dimensional breach, what was it?

The city commander's optics flashed a brilliant blue, and an expression of pure panic appeared on his face. Letting out a choked cry, he whirled and dashed out, transforming in mid-step. Now very worried, every Autobot in the vicinity followed. Hot Spot radioed for Peceptor to join them.

Magnus led them to an empty area just outside of Iacon's walls. Then he transformed back to robot, staring wildly at the empty air right in front of him.

"Perceptor?"

The red and blue scientist stepped cautiously forward and pulled out his sensors. He'd built them specifically to detect dimensional breaches and anything similar. But this time he didn't detect any of the readings that were consistent with a tear in the barriers between two different realities. Frowning, he adjusted the spectrum of the scanners. It began to beep wildly. A red light flashed rapidly. Perceptor's optics went wide.

"What is it?" Streetwise demanded.

Perceptor's jaw worked silently for a moment. Finally he looked up. "The energies I am reading are not consistent with anything I have detected in or around a breach between dimensions."

"Then what is it?"

The scientist looked even more uncertain. "From what readings I have gathered..." he paused, then steeled himself and continued, "this anomaly is a breach."

"But if it isn't a hole between realities, then what is it in?" Springer asked.

"Time."

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Ultra Rodimus groaned and sat up, holding his head in an attempt to stop the pounding headache raging between his eyes. The fact that he had a headache was enough to let him know that he was human again. He was used to being human now, but the fact that he had not initiated the change from robot to human bothered him.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the headache subsided enough for him to get his bearings. Blinking against the bright light, he looked around.

He was in a small clearing surrounded by stone. The ground was mostly rock and sand, with small, hardy plants clinging to life here and there. The sky overhead was blue, puffy white clouds drifting through his field of vision.

Earth.

How had he gotten to Earth? He'd been on Cybertron! He chewed on the question as he pulled himself to his feet, every muscle screaming in protest. He ached from head to toe. Wobbling on his feet, he made his way to a break in the rocks and emerged from the clearing. But when he caught sight of what loomed ahead of him, he froze.

The mountain was massive. A thin wisp of smoke rose lazily from its peak, indicating a volcano that was possibly still active. But it wasn't the threat of lava that left him paralyzed with shock.

It was the huge ship lodged in the mountain's flank, its rear thrusters pointing skyward, its hull pitted and scarred. The ship that, in his reality, had been destroyed by the Decepticons not long after he'd become Autobot leader.

The Ark.

A scraping sound startled Ultra Rodimus out of his thoughts. He spun around to find a robot towering over him, eyeing him suspiciously, aiming a weapon right at him. The robot was black and white, his helmet bearing two red, curved crests. The doors of his alternate mode spread out from his back like wings.

"Who the hell are you?" the robot demanded.

**To be continued...**

So, tell me what you think. Should I continue? Send me a review and give me your opinion.


	2. Past Encounters

Author's Note: Thank you for the encouragement, so I will continue writing this fic. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: Ultra Rodimus and his skrill Falcon are mine. Everyone else belongs to someone else.

**Past and Future**

**Chapter 1 : Past Encounters**

Ultra Rodimus stared up at the other Autobot, instantly recognizing him as Prowl. And that brought out more thoughts. Prowl did not exist in his time; he'd been killed just before Autobot City had been destroyed. It could have been a dimension jump, but Ultra Rodimus was more accustomed than he'd like to dimensional cross-rips and what he'd passed through had definitely not been a dimensional breach. That left only one plausible explanation: he'd traveled in time.

It only took seconds for that to occur to him. Hard on its heels came the knowledge that Prowl didn't know him, that he himself did not exist in this time. And from the look of the Ark itself, the Transformers had not been long awakened. No one knew of them and they did not know anyone.

Fortunately, his reign as Autobot leader had taught him to control his expression, and he schooled his into what would be expected of someone facing a giant alien robot holding a weapon. His eyes went as wide as they could go, his jaw dropped, he went pale, and stumbled backward, as if completely and utterly shocked. A portion of his mind concentrated on his control over his physical appearance and swiftly hid the red faction insignia on his shirt before Prowl could see it. He made sure that all signs of his real nature were hidden. Then a part of his mind began working on a way to get back to his own time.

Something tickled in the back of his mind, and he recognized it as his lifebond. His mate was trying to contact him. Thanking Primus for his unusual ability to mentally multitask, he added his efforts to Magnus's and between them they managed to get the link open.

((Beloved!)) Magnus's mental voice was full of worry.

(I'm all right,) Ultra Rodimus assured him. (But I seem to have jumped backward in time.)

((We found a time window,)) was the response. ((Any idea when you are?))

(I'm on Earth, staring at the business end of Prowl's gun, in front of the Ark. My guess is somewhere in the 1980's, probably just after Mt. St. Hillary blew and woke Teletran 1. Ask Jazz if he remembers anything.)

((Will do.))

The link went quiet.

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Prowl didn't know what to make of the human. He and the others had just encountered the humans, but none of them had looked like this. The male standing in front of him was quite tall for a human, about six foot six, with skin that shone golden and long silver hair. His eyes were a startling brilliant green, oval-shaped and slightly tilted, enhancing his exotic appearance. The pupils, Prowl noted as those eyes went huge, were slitted. He'd been informed by Sparkplug that all humans had round pupils. The strander's ears were also odd, pointed instead of rounded. The stranger's clothing was a light grey with red and blue markings, his long coat and boots of strangely patterned material. But what unnerved Prowl most was the expression he'd glimpsed on the man's face when he'd turned around.

Recognition.

The stranger had looked at him, and his eyes had said _I know you. _Then his expression had gone from surprised recognition to utter shock, the expression on the faces of the other humans meeting the Autobots for the first time. But Prowl felt certain that this was only an act. That man knew exactly who and what Prowl was, even though he was trying to pretend otherwise. He wondered why the stranger felt the need to pretend.

"Who are you?" Prowl repeated.

The stranger's jaw worked, but nothing came out.

"Drop the act," Prowl ordered. "You know exactly what I am. Do you really think you're fooling me?"

Emerald eyes narrowed at him. "My name is Roddy." His voice was surprisingly deep for such a small (to an Autobot) being.

Prowl got the distinct impression that he hadn't been told Roddy's full name, but some instinct told him not to pry. The stranger must have reasons for not revealing his full name. Something nagged at him as he gestured with his weapon. "Come on."

His sharp tone earned him another pointed look, but Roddy didn't say anything. He merely followed Prowl's directions, allowing himself to be escorted into the Ark. Prowl stared at his back, wondering how the stranger knew him, and wondering why Prowl didn't know Roddy.

_Who is he? _

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There was complete silence as the gathered Autobots stared at Perceptor, letting what they'd heard sink in. The scientist had just told them that their leader had traveled in time. They hadn't even known that was possible!

"So... how do we get him home?" Springer finally wondered.

"We can't do anything," Perceptor informed him.

"What? Why not!"

"Because if we go after him we risk changing history, and that would alter the future," Perceptor explained. "Our reality would cease to exist. Events would happen differently, and maybe not for the better. This time Ultra Rodimus must find his own way home."

Kup thought for a long moment, searching his long memory, but he couldn't remember ever hearing of or seeing anyone looking even remotely like Ultra Rodimus. He said as much.

Scattershot looked at Magnus. "Can you contact him? Maybe he can give us a hint as to which time period he's in. Then we can go through the archives and maybe find a way for him to get home."

"I'll try." Magnus concentrated, eyes glazing over as he turned his attention inward. "It feels blocked..." Then the block vanished and his mate's mind touched his own. ((Beloved!)) Magnus sent, listening for any hints of pain that could indicate an injury.

(I'm all right,) his mate answered, his voice tinted with something Magnus couldn't identify. (But I seem to have jumped backward in time.)

Relief swept through the city commander. ((We found a time window. Any idea when you are?))

(I'm on Earth, staring at the business end of Prowl's gun, in front of the Ark. My guess is somewhere in the 1980's, probably just after Mt. St. Hillary blew and woke Teletran 1. Ask Jazz if he remembers anything.)

The mental image of a tall black and white robot, aiming a gun and wearing a very suspicious expression, slid into Magnus's mental eye. For a moment absolute rage at somebody pointing a weapon at his mate swept through Magnus. He squashed it with difficulty, ignoring the rising urge to step through that time window and take Prowl apart circuit by circuit. He'd never felt anything like it before; it wasn't in his nature. Then he remembered Kup telling him that lifebonds tended to make both partners extremely protective of each other, and the emotions suddenly made sense. He devoted part of his attention to forcing them down so he could answer his mate. ((Will do.))

Ultra Rodimus sent a wave of affection to him and broke the connection. Magnus came back to himself with a start. He looked at the others.

"Assemble in the briefing room, and bring Jazz with you," he ordered. "Also, anyone else who was on the Ark when the volcano erupted."

"He's then?" Kup asked.

"Apparently."

"That would explain why I don't remember anything. I wasn't there at the time." Kup began making calls while a team of Autobots set up a perimeter around the time window and Perceptor supervised the placement of his equipment.

Magnus looked at the empty air where the window was. He didn't like the thought of leaving it while his mate was still on the other side, but he didn't have a choice. It was the only way he could help his beloved. As he turned back toward Iacon, he privately vowed that, if nothing else would work, he would personally go and find his mate.

**To be continued...**

I know the chapters of this fic are short compared to some of the other chapters I've written, but at the moment that can't be helped. For new readers, this fic is part of an ongoing series, so if you are confused by anything in this story I would suggest that you read the other stories in this series. It starts with "Transformation", and the others, in order, are: "A New Life" (rewrite pending), "Years of Darkness", "Cyber World", "Of Lightsabers and Autobots", "Unexpected Encounters" (read to find out about Falcon), "Burning Skies" (violent; read with caution), "Chocolate", "Encounters of the Weird Kind", "Cyber Stargate", "Metal and Neon", and finally this story. They can be read separately, but to understand the full storyline you should read all of them. That's just a suggestion, mind you.

You know what to do if you want me to update, right? Send me more reviews. If I don't get reviews then I won't update until I get some. Reviews fuel updates. So to get an update you have to feed the author.


	3. Author's Note

Author's Note: I had the next chapter of this fic typed and ready for posting yesterday, but somehow the file had been screwed and I can't get the damn thing to work. And since I don't have another copy of the chapter, I've lost everything I wrote for it. I do not remember anything of what I wrote, so I don't think I'll be able to rewrite it. You'll have to wait a few days for me to get fresh inspiration, unless someone can tell me some miraculous way of restoring files on a disk. Sorry. Blame everything on the goddamned disk, not on the author.


	4. Touching Across Time

Author's Note: Sorry about the delay, but the last time I typed up this chapter the file got messed up and I lost the whole damned thing. Now I have to rewrite it from scratch, which won't be easy because I can only remember vague chunks of the chapter, and I didn't make a backup copy. So please bear with me here. It's the damn disk's fault, not mine.

Disclaimer: Ultra Rodimus and Falcon belong to me. Everyone else belongs to people with more lawyers than you can shake a stick at.

**Past and Future**

**Chapter 2: Touching Across Time**

Ultra Rodimus picked his way across the rocky ground toward the immense crashed ship, very aware of Prowl behind him. His mind was furiously working on a way to get him home. He'd never been much of a science type, but since his rebirth he'd become much more knowledgeable on the subject. Perhaps he wasn't as intelligent as Perceptor, at least not when it came to science, but he knew enough to know that under no circumstances could he reveal anything about the future. If any knowledge of what was to come leaked out, it would irrevocably change the course of history, and the change could be significant enough to completely wipe out the Autobot race. Keeping things to himself wasn't in his nature; he was the type who was free with his opinions. It would be difficult, but somehow he'd manage to keep from saying anything.

He rounded another boulder and paused for a moment, a strange feeling passing through him. The pause was only for an instant, and he was moving before Prowl could push him back into motion. But now his body was running on autopilot, his mind occupied with finding the source of the energy coursing through his body. It only took him a few moments to realize it was coming from the Matrix.

Whenever he morphed from robot form to human form, the Matrix had to go somewhere. His human body was incapable of carrying it. Another problem was its size. But he couldn't remove it every time he morphed. What to do with it had been a problem.

The Matrix itself had provided a solution. When he morphed, it became a cloud of energy, filling every cell of his human shape. Instead of decreasing in power, as had been expected of it during the change from solid matter into pure energy, it retained its strength. Not even Perceptor could explain why. Ultra Rodimus had simply shrugged and pointed out that the Matrix was a law unto itself, and not even its bearers understood it. It simply _did _it, and that was that. Normally when it was an energy cloud it was quiet, so that he had nothing more than the usual background feel of its presence in his mind. Now it was pulsing, sending waves of energy surging through him.

When he realized why, he swore under his breath.

Ultra Rodimus himself did not exist in the past, but the Matrix did, and it was currently on Earth with its former bearer, Ultra Rodimus's predecessor, Optimus Prime. It was reacting to the presence of its past self. Then it occurred to him that if his Matrix was reacting that way, the Matrix of this time would be reacting the same way. Which meant Optimus would recognize him as a Matrix-Bearer.

_As if I needed more problems, _he thought to himself darkly.

((Why is it doing that?)) Falcon asked in his mind.

(Because it already exists in this time, and it's reacting to its past self.)

The skrill shuddered, making his forearm twitch. ((Can you make it stop?))

(Not to my knowledge. Is it hurting you?)

((It feels like something crawling up my back and my tentacles,)) Falcon replied. ((It's bothering me.))

(Let me see if there's anything I can do.) Ultra Rodimus narrowed his eyes, reaching for the Matrix's presence in the back of his mind. As one of its chosen bearers he could communicate with it. Getting its attention proved somewhat difficult, but once he managed it the Matrix responded by blocking its energy before it reached the skrill.

((Thank you,)) Falcon told him with relief.

(You're welcome. Now stay quiet and lay low. These Autobots won't know what you are and they may try to remove you.)

Fortunately, the sleeve of his snakeskin coat muffled Falcon's hiss and suppressed his glow. Ultra Rodimus casually placed his left hand on his right forearm, rubbing as if to ease an ache, and Falcon's hissing subsided. Finally, the skrill's grumbling was entirely mental. The young Prime sent soothing thoughts to him until Falcon fell silent.

The Ark's corridors were quiet, for which Ultra Rodimus was thankful. He'd prefer as little contact as possible with the Autobots in this time. Then they reached the command center.

Most of the consoles lining the bridge of the Ark were occupied. Others, nonessential systems that could not be used on a planet's surface, remained dark and lifeless, sometimes coated with a thin layer of dust. Ultra Rodimus recognized all of the Autobots there, even those who had not survived the brutal attack on Autobot City. Then his attention was drawn to the opposite side of the bridge, where Optimus Prime stood with Ironhide, Jazz, Ratchet, and Wheeljack. The older Prime looked up.

Their eyes met.

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Optimus Prime shifted his weight slightly as he entered the Ark's command center. A few minutes ago the Matrix had begun to pulse, sending waves of energy through him. It was reacting to something, but damned if he knew what. There was no sense of danger emanating from the crystal sphere, nothing that indicated any approaching danger. It had started flaring without any prior warning. One moment it had been calm and the next it was anything but.

The instant he was spotted four of his friends homed in on him. He fell into a conversation with them, mostly about how to work with the humans, and it allowed him to take his mind off of the Matrix's strange behavior. The ancient artifact wouldn't tell him what was going on, and he found that more unnerving than the pulsing itself.

He managed to lose himself in the conversation until the Matrix gave a sudden mental lurch, and his head came up. Optimus looked across the command center to see Prowl coming in, gun drawn, herding someone ahead of him. Then he felt another surge of Matrix energy, this time not coming from himself, and his gaze was pulled downward to settle onto the person Prowl had brought in.

A human.

Optimus took a closer look and had to revise that impression. The stranger clearly had pointed ears, pierced, one with a small gold metal stud and the other with a slightly larger blue stone. The stranger could be taken for human, but once anyone noticed those pointed ears it would be clear that he was not human.

The stranger was fairly tall, standing about six foot six, with tanned gold skin and long silver hair hanging braided down his back. He wore a shirt and pants of a smoke-colored material, and a long, strangely patterned and colored coat with an odd shine to its surface. His feet were clad in matching boots, clearly tailored to fit him alone. At his waist was a broad belt made of a similar material, colored a shade of purple that went well with the light grey clothing he wore. He was lean in build, but something told Optimus not to underestimate him. Looks could be deceiving, that he knew well, and some sixth sense was telling him that this person was not what he appeared.

His blue optics met the stranger's green eyes, and he found himself staring.

Whoever the newcomer was, he wasn't the least bit afraid of or intimidated by Optimus Prime. He radiated Matrix energy, so much that Optimus was surprised he wasn't glowing with it. He knew exactly who Optimus was, what he was, and didn't seem to care. Looking at him, Optimus suddenly felt as if he were staring at another Autobot, one touched by the Matrix.

Tearing his eyes away from the confusing stranger, Optimus looked at Prowl, silently asking for a report.

"I found him not two hundred meters away," the tactician reported. "Inside our security perimeter. None of the sensors were tripped."

"Impossible!" Wheeljack blurted. "Nothing can get past the sensors without setting them off!"

"Nonetheless, he managed it. It's as if he appeared out of thin air." Prowl glanced down at the stranger. "He claims his name is Roddy."

"Doesn't look like anyone I've ever seen, and I'd remember somebody like him," Sparkplug Witwicky commented as he and his son Spike walked in.

Only Optimus seemed to notice how the stranger flinched when he saw Sparkplug, and he was instantly curious.

"Nobody I know of looks like that," Spike added. "As far as I know, nobody around here wears snakeskin, either."

Optimus returned his gaze to the humanoid, who shot him a sharp look. The red and blue Autobot resisted the sudden, inexplicable urge to shrink back, noting as he did so that the humanoid had a presence or aura of authority strong enough that the Autobots near him were reacting to it even though his attention was not focussed on them.

"You," Optimus told him, hoping that his voice wouldn't give away how uneasy he felt, "have some explaining to do."

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By the time Magnus reached the briefing room, the rest of the command staff and all surviving members of the Ark's original crew had gathered. They were conversing softly among themselves, wondering why they had been summoned so urgently. The conversations stopped when Magnus entered the room, all eyes following him as he strode to the head of the table, standing behind Ultra Rodimus's vacant chair.

Bluntly and in as few words as possible, Magnus explained the situation. Perceptor did his best to explain the consequences of sending aid to their missing commander, who was turning out to be a magnet for trans-dimensional and time phenomena. Finally, he sat back down and looked at Magnus.

The Autobot second-in-command looked at the small clump of bots who'd been awakened aboard the Ark in 1984. There weren't many of them left. The group consisted of Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Mirage, Bumblebee, Bluestreak, Cliffjumper, and Jazz. All of them watched him.

"I asked you all to come because you were there at the time, and I intend to pick your memories for anything that might help us bring our leader home," Magnus told them.

Jazz looked at Spike. "You were there then, too."

The human nodded slowly, rooting through his memory. "Yeah, I remember now."

Magnus gave them a look he'd learned from his mate, Ultra Rodimus's infamous 'spill it or regret it' look. It wasn't as sharp as his lover's but it worked well enough to get them talking.

"Prowl found him a couple hundred meters away and brought him in," Jazz told them. "Optimus had been having a case of the fidgets for about ten minutes when Prowl came in. He could sense something, but what it was he kept to himself. Then he decided that he wanted to question Roddy, as he called himself."

The city commander groaned. "What happened?"

The black and white Autobot grinned while the rest of the group snickered. "I guess Ultra Roddy wasn't in the best of moods right then. You're not gonna believe what he did..."

**To be continued...**

There. That was faster than I thought I'd have this done. And if you wanna know what Ultra Rodimus did, then you're going to have to review this chapter so I'll start the next one. Remember, no reviews means no chapters. And yes, Omicron, I have e-mail. My e-mail address is on my profile page.


	5. Future Echoes

Author's Note: I apologize for the delay in the writing of this chapter, but while I did have the time to type over the long weekend I have become very wary of typing on my home computer. The last time I did the file ended up corrupted and I had to retype the last chapter from scratch. So please bear with me. And don't ask where the chapter title came from. I made it up completely randomly.

Disclaimer: I own Ultra Rodimus and Falcon. Everybody else belongs to somebody else.

**Past and Future**

**Chapter 3: Future Echoes**

To say that Ultra Rodimus was annoyed would be an understatement. In the space of a few hours he'd been ripped from his own time, held at gunpoint by a dead robot, forced to encounter everyone he'd wished to avoid, been revealed as a Matrix-Bearer by the damned crystal cue ball he carried, and now his predecessor was demanding answers from him while simultaneously using his powerful presence as Autobot leader in an attempt to awe him into telling whatever he wanted to know. No, Ultra Rodimus wasn't annoyed.

He was completely pissed off.

The anger and irritation that had been simmering in his gut all day, mostly from a conference with an obnoxious Tok'ra just before being yanked through the time corridor, began to boil. It oveflowed his control and began to rise like a tidal wave. As it rose it took in the annoyance at Prowl for pointing a weapon at him, the old pain he felt from Sparkplug's violent death, and his feelings toward his predecessor and became even stronger. He was hard-pressed to keep from blowing his top, but he knew he would if he didn't vent some steam. He'd been looking for a target since entering the command center, and now one had obligingly stepped into his sights. That it was Optimus Prime didn't matter one little bit.

Ultra Rodimus glared at Optimus. "I don't have to explain anything to you," he hissed.

Optimus looked taken aback. He wasn't used to being told off so bluntly. "You will tell me who you are, where you are from, why you are here, and why you radiate Matrix energy," he growled back, narrowing his optics. The sheer amount of Matrix power the stranger emitted was making him even more uneasy. Not even Alpha Trion had radiated so much power, and he had guarded the Matrix for eons.

Emerald eyes flashed, and some inner instinct warned the other Autobots to back off. Slowly, slowly, they slunk back, out of the line of fire, some ducking into sheltered niches, all of them still watching what was going on. Nervous optics went from their leader to the strange humanoid and back again, wondering what would happen next.

"And I just said that I don't have to tell you anything!" Ultra Rodimus snarled, eyes beginning to glow with his rising temper. Any of his Autobots would have recognized the warning signs and retreated, and some would have begun taking bets on how many words it would take him to verbally skin whoever had pissed him off. "Clean the scrap out of your audio receivers!"

Optimus's optics flashed. Something deep inside him was screaming at him to back off, to surrender and leave Roddy alone, but he ignored it. Which would probably be a mistake. Completely ignoring the telltale signs of a life-form on the brink of erupting, the Autobot leader proceeded to jump in way over his head.

"If you do not answer my questions then you will be locked in a holding cell until you decide to cooperate!" Prime snapped at him.

Wrong thing to say.

Ultra Rodimus erupted.

His eyes flashed brilliantly. Then he let Optimus have it, telling him very clearly just where he could shove his questions and continuing from there. Optimus staggered backward, staring at the much smaller humanoid and somehow gewtting the distinct impression that the man calling himself Roddy was actually a fair bit larger than Optimus himself. The hurricane of Roddy's unleashed temper crashed over him and nearly bowled him off his feet with its force. The other Autobots shrank back as far as they could go without actually leaving the room, staring at the impossible sight of their leader being verbally torn limb from limb. Several jaws were hanging open. Prowl wedged himself behind a convenient console, fervently glad that he hadn't been required to interrogate Roddy.

When Roddy's verbal assault finally ended, there was complete silence. Even the Matrix had stilled, as if it was laying low in an attempt to avoid notice. Optimus could only stare into furious green eyes, unable to say anything. Roddy's glare bored into him and made him feel as if he were being taken apart bit by bit from the force. Then Roddy turned and stalked back outside, spine as straight as a pole, the storm clouds hovering over his head almost visible, radiating the feel of 'approach and die'. The Autobots near the entrance did their best to make themselves invisble, but he ignored them completely. Once he was gone and safely out of hearing range, all eyes turned back to Optimus.

A faint cracking sound echoed through the silent chamber. Then Optimus's armor, every last piece, cracked and broke off, landing in a heap of red and blue metal on the floor around him, reduced to scrap by the force of the verbal flaying.

Optimus began to shudder.

For a long moment, nobody moved. Then Ratchet's head popped out from behind the main console. The medic took a careful look around, then emerged from hiding and walked over to Optimus. He circled the de-armored Autobot, then grunted and grabbed hold of Optimus's arm.

"I just finished repairing your carcass and now I've gotta replace your armor again," the cranky medic grumped. "Will somebody please sweep up that mess?"

Windcharger crept out of his hiding place, glanced cautiously around, and approached the pile of scraps. Using his magnetic powers he gathered them into a ball and carried it down the corridor after Ratchet. The metal would be recycled and used again. The other Autobots exchanged glances, then came back out into the open and resumed their interrupted duties.

Outside, Ultra Rodimus found a sheltered, hidden cavern, fairly small and full of boulders, in which to work off his temper. Sliding the Goa'uld ribbon device onto his left hand, he set about blasting boulders across the cave and/or reducing them to gravel. By the time he'd almost entirely cleared the cave, he'd let off enough steam that he was in no danger of another eruption, unless someone else started pushing his buttons. Turning his back on the heaps of gravel, all that remained of boulders the size of small buses, he stalked out into the open, found a suitable rock to sit on, leaned back against the warm stone, folded his arms over his chest, and brooded.

He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there, but from the position of the late afternoon sun it had been a few hours, when some inner sense made him look up, staring off into the distance. After glancing around to make sure nobody could see him, he morphed just enough to access his optic systems. His pupils went wide, then contracted to thin slits, then widened again as he made use of his telescopic vision. What he saw was a cluster of small dots flying toward the Ark. Shifting from the telescopic function to another, one that could see energy by using a very complicated combination of sensors and other equipment, he looked again.

The dots immediately lit up with energy. He instantly knew that they could not be of human construction; humans did not possess that technology yet. Nor could they be Autobots; Skyfire hadn't been found yet. Organic creatures did not radiate energy in the spectrum he was currently looking at. With a sinking feeling in his gut, he began to dig around in his CPU for a match to the energy patterns he was seeing. He got a hit almost instantly.

Decepticons.

Spitting out a heated swear word, he fished around for something to throw. He couldn't take them on; it would change the future and that he couldn't risk. Instead, he snatched up a rock, located one of the motion sensors, and threw the rock at it. His aim was perfect.

The alarms went off, startling everyone in the Ark's command center. Prowl pounced on the console, but couldn't find anything. Wary, he sent an armed team outside to find out what was going on. The call came through a moment later.

"Decepticons!"

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There was complete silence in Iacon's briefing room. All eyes were on the snickering group of Ark crew members. Even those who normally had wisecracks for everything were speechless. Those bots who had been part of the Ark's original crew were all grinning at the memory.

Magnus, at the head of the table, was staring at Jazz with his optics so wide Jazz was surprised they hadn't popped out and his mouth hanging open. He shook himself, managing to get his systems working again.

"He didn't!" the city commander blurted.

Jazz grinned even more. "He did."

"Ultra Rodimus told Optimus Prime to shove his questions up his..." Springer began.

"In a few more words and a much more detailed description of exactly how to do it," Mirage cut in with a snort. "It was amazing to hear. And I have the vidclip from Teletran 1 if you don't believe us."

Magnus nodded silently.

Mirage inserted the datachip into the data reader and activated the wall monitor. The assembled Autobots watched their leader take the hide off his predecessor and witnessed the aftermath, as Optimus's armor fell to pieces. Magnus choked.

Springer blinked several times, then tilted his head. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me. He doesn't take slag from anyone, and he isn't the least bit impressed with authority. Didn't he tell Primus off once?"

"He did," Magnus confirmed, still trying to wrap his mind around his mate's behavior. "How did Optimus react?"

"He was a lot more careful about how he addressed Roddy," Cliffjumper commented. "Wisely tried to avoid setting him off again. But he didn't give up on trying to get answers out of him. He was just a lot more polite about it."

"What happened next?" Hot Spot asked.

Jazz took up the tale again. "A few hours later Megatron attacked the Ark..."

**To be continued...**

There's the next chapter for you. And if you're wondering just what happened to Sparkplug, you'll have to read the fic "Burning Skies". I would recommend that you read it with caution, though.

Thank you to all me readers for encouraging me to continue. I love you guys. Please continue to send reviews and I will continue to write.


	6. Echoes of History

Author's Note: I apologize for the delay in updating this fic, but, as I explained, I am very wary about typing on my home computer. The last time I did so it ate the chapter I had typed, forcing me to retype the whole chapter from scratch. Since I really hate retyping anything, I have chosen to err on the side of caution and type either on my mother's work computer, or at the college. If you have any complaints, direct them to my fic-eating computer. And again, another random chapter title.

Disclaimer: I only own the characters I myself have created. And I've already told you who they are.

**Past and Future**

**Chapter 4: Echoes of History**

Megatron was bored.

Even evil tyrants have one of those days, when not even they can think up some evil, tyrannical scheme to pull off. And this was one of those days. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't think up anything to do. Not a single plan to conquer the universe took shape in his mind.

With their leader bored silly, it was a slow day in Decepticon HQ. All of the normal bickering and infighting was toned down. Even Starscream was behaving himself. There were no diabolical plots to overthrow Megatron being made, no strange gadgets being tinkered with (or blown up), no devices of conquest being built. Everyone was just lazing around with nothing to do, bored out of their minds. So it came as a relief when Megatron decided to engage in a skirmish against the Autobots just for something to do. The other Decepticons were almost too eager to take on their enemies.

As they approached the Autobot ship, lodged where it had crashed four million years earlier, Megatron debated whether or not to set off the Autobots' alarms early. But then the decision was taken out of his hands. Before they even got within range of the scanners, the alarms were already howling and the Autobots flowing out of their base.

"Attack!" Megatron commanded.

The Decepticons dove.

As they came out of the sky the Autobots poured out to meet them. Lasers began to scream as they spat bolts of deadly fire across the distance between the two armies. Missile launchers coughed and roared as they vomited out their loads of explosives. Other weapons added their distinctive noises to the racket as the fighting began in earnest.

"Whatever you're up to, you'll never get away with it, Megatron!" Optimus bellowed at his nemesis.

"I already have, Prime!" Megatron crowed in response.

The Autobot Prime growled low in his vocal unit and lunged at his enemy, grappling with him. For once Megatron seemed willing not to use the powerful fusion cannon mounted on his right arm. He seemed to prefer grappling with his enemy for a change.

As they grappled, testing their strength against each other, Optimus noticed a thin layer of dust coating the ebony barrel of Megatron's fusion cannon. Then he realized what was going on.

_Aha! So that's it. He wants to dust off the ol' cannon. This battle doesn't mean anything; it's to give a pack of bored Decepticons something to do. Hmm. And he just _had _to pick _now _to stage this fight, when I have other things on my... slag!_

A flicker of movement at the corner of his optic drew his attention to where the mystery stranger had been sitting. Said stranger was currently scrambling down the side of the mountain, silver braid flying out behind him, trying to keep out of the line of fire and from being noticed. But he wasn't succeeding. Starscream was heading right for him.

Ultra Rodimus mentally yelled every swear word he knew (and that was a _lot _of swear words) as he scrambled madly to get out of the open. He'd forgotten that he was human and had waited to watch the developing battle. Then the lasers had started flying and Falcon had reminded him that in this form he lacked his impenetrable armor shell. Keeping to the shelter of the rocks as much as he could, he ran toward the Ark.

Something grabbed his leg, yanking him off the ground. He flailed for a moment, then looked around.

"Well, what have we here?" a familiar high-pitched, nerve-grating voice crooned nastily. He turned his head and saw the ominous form of Starscream. The Decepticon Air Commander had him by the leg and was dangling him in front of his face.

"Put me down, Starskunk!" Ultra Rodimus yelled at him.

The Seeker laughed, the sound making the already pissed humanized Autobot even more furious. "Sure!" He let go of Ultra Rodimus, let him drop a few feet, then caught him again and held him by the collar of his jacket.

Ultra Rodimus's eyes blazed with emerald fire as he twisted and fought against Starscream's grip, spitting out one of the nastier phrases he'd picked up during his time as Autobot leader. Those bots of either faction who overheard the phrase whistled in amazement. Although anatomically impossible, it certainly would have been interesting to watch if Ultra Rodimus decided to put Starscream into that particular position.

The red and white Seeker's crimson optics narrowed with anger. He let go again, grabbing him out of the air an instant later. Then he began tightening his grip, crushing the life out of his victim.

The human Autobot twisted in his grip, managing to get his left hand loose. Bringing it up, he discharged a blast from the ribbon device directly into Starscream's face.

The force blew Starscream backward. His hand opened as he fell, releasing Ultra Rodimus. The young Prime landed hard on the ground, sending pain shooting through his chest and back, a sure sign that he had cracked or broken ribs. Without even looking to see what had become of Starscream, he bolted for the Ark's entrance. He was almost there when he was hit from behind and sent sprawling.

More pain roared through his body, and he almost blacked out. Somehow, he managed to hang on and keep from losing consciousness. Spinning in mid-fall, he landed on his hip instead of his side and skidded. Shaking his head to clear it, he saw the black form of Ravage hurtling toward him. The jaguar landed on him and immediately began slashing and biting. Most of the attacks hit Ultra Rodimus's snakeskin jacket, which was almost as tough as his robot form's armor, but a few tore into his arms and legs. Blue blood began to soak his clothing.

A laser blast hit Ravage in the side, hurling him off the barely-conscious Autobot. Blinking in an attempt to clear his eyes, Ultra Rodimus looked in the direction of the shot and saw Spike and Sparkplug running toward him, both carrying Autobot-designed weapons. They drove Ravage away, then came back and between the two of them carried Ultra Rodimus back into the Ark, no easy feat because of his substantial weight. Ultra Rodimus held on as long as he could, but his strength ran out and he lost consciousness.

1111111111111111111

Magnus gasped and gripped his chest as pain shot through him. He doubled over, other Autobots jumping to their feet. Only the Ark crew didn't move. They'd been expecting it.

"Roddy was caught outside during the attack," Jazz explained. "Starscream caught him, gave him a couple of broken ribs and cracked a few more. Used the ribbon device to get away, was almost back at the Ark when Ravage jumped him. He got mauled."

"Dad and I chased Ravage away," Spike added. "We brought Roddy in. He weighs a lot for such a slender person."

"It's all muscle," Magnus grunted as the pain began to subside, but remained as an ache in his chest and minor jabs in his thighs. He rubbed his chest, reaching out to the lifebond and drawing the pain into himself, a trick he'd learned to help his mate keep a clear head. Ultra Rodimus knew he did it and returned the favor whenever he could. Then something occurred to him and he looked back at Spike. "Who treated him?"

"A woman named Dr. Emily Winters," the human answered. "And only her. Unfortunately, she was killed a few months later. She was in the city for lunch and was hit by a drunk driver. The medical files were secured, and Optimus took charge of them. What he did with them I don't have a clue."

"What happened next?" Scattershot asked, leaning forward.

"Roddy was kept in Repair Bay until he'd been bandaged and warned about not making the injuries worse. Once he was released, Optimus scooped him up and carried him off for a private discussion..."

**To be continued...**

There. That's another chapter down. The next one is already being worked on, so it should be up in a few days. Don't expect the one after that for a little while, though. Exam season.

As I mentioned, Ultra Rodimus doesn't take slag from anyone, and he isn't impressed with rank. If anyone resorts to rank in an attempt to push him around, it only tells him that whoever's doing it needs a good kick in the skidplate. And Ops had it coming. You don't try to bully Ultra Rodimus and not expect to pay the consequences.


	7. Interweaving

Author's Note: I have to write my midterm exams next week, so I haven't the faintest idea when the next chapter of this story will be posted. I apologize for that, but it can't be helped. Please don't hurt me. And if you're wondering about the old injuries mentioned in this chapter, you'll have to read the story ''Burning Skies". But I suggest that you read it with caution.

Disclaimer: Ultra Rodimus, Falcon, and Dr. Winters are my own creations. Everybody else belongs to somebody else.

**Past and Future**

**Chapter 5: Interweaving**

Optimus Prime stood near the wall of the Repair Bay, looking at the humanoid man lying on the table. Bandages circled his chest and upper legs, where Ravage's claws had struck. Old scars were faintly visible against his gold skin. Optimus wondered where he'd gotten those scars.

His optics moved to where Wheeljack was inspecting the metal device that had been on Roddy's left hand. It looked like a gold ribbon with rings and caps for the fingers. On the palm was a red stone, on the wrist a yellow, and on the back of the hand a blue stone carved into a beetle. Optimus had seen it discharge a blast powerful enough to send Starscream sprawling down the side of the volcano. It had been removed when Roddy had been brought in, and the engineer was trying to figure out what it was and how it worked.

Wheeljack straightened, eyed the device with confusion, then wandered over to Optimus. "Strange."

"What?" Optimus looked at him.

"That device. It has no power source, and minimal circuitry. I couldn't even begin to guess how it works. The blue stone is the only one of the three with any real circuitry, and what's there looks more like some kind of transmitter."

"Could it be a transmitter?"

Wheeljack shrugged. "If it is, it's one of the simplest ones I've ever seen. Actually, it looks more like a remote activation switch, meant to trigger one specific machine or object and nothing else. If I had to guess what it does, I'd hazard a guess that it activates some kind of transportation system. The coding is completely known to me, but it kinda looks like one of our remote keys for Iacon's lift system."

"What about the other two stones?"

The Lancia shrugged, head panels blinking. "The yellow stone has very minimal circuitry, like a simple projector. The red stone has no circuitry at all. I have no idea where it gets its power. the whole thing looks like some kind of conductor."

"Then the power might come from inside the wearer's body," Optimus suggested.

"If it does, then it's very likely he's the only one who can use it."

"Keep working on it."

"Will do." Wheeljack walked back over to it.

The red and blue Autobot turned his attention back to the unconscious humanoid. Spike and Sparkplug had brought him in after chasing off Ravage, saving Roddy a very severe mauling. Dr. Emily Winters, who's arrived to see to the health of the humans now working with the Autobots, had been examining him for several hours. Noticing movement, Optimus looked down to see the doctor walking toward him.

"Well?" Optimus asked.

"He's definitely not human, but you already knew that."

"How bad was it?"

"Three broken ribs, a couple more cracked, and deep lacerations from Ravage's claws." She ran her hands through her hair. "It's what else I see that bothers me."

Her tone instantly caught his attention. He turned to her. "What did you find?"

"A great deal of scarring. More scars that I can account for."

"He may be a warrior."

"These aren't battle scars. They're too straight, too precise. No weapon left them. They're incision scars, made with surgical precision and with surgical tools. That made me suspicious, so on a hunch I ran x-rays and a CAT scan."

"And what were the results?" Optimus's voice was soft.

Dr. Winters looked slightly sick. "There's a metal plate in his skull, scars on his brain, the bones of his legs are either held together with pins or replaced altogether, there are gaps between the muscles in arms and legs, most of his ribs have bolts in then, and he's missing pieces of several internal organs. Add in all that scarring and the internal trauma, and it adds up to just one thing." She looked up at him, dead serious. "That's not battle damage. That's torture."

Optimus stared at her, temporarily speechless. Then he looked back at Roddy. "He was tortured?"

"Very severely. He's lucky to have survived it. I doubt anyone else would have." She frowned. "And I also found out some other odd things about him."

"Such as?"

"He has practically no body hair, and his blood is blue instead of red. It's not even distantly related to human blood, though it serves the same function. I'm no chemist, but it looks more like mech fluid to me."

A suspicion crystalized in Optimus's mind. He'd been suspicious since their guest had flatly refused to tell anyone anything about himself. Now he thought he had an idea as to why. When Roddy finally woke, they would have to have a talk.

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Ultra Rodimus groaned as he sat up on the table, feeling a stab of pain as his broken ribs reminded him of their presence. His legs and shoulders ached where Ravage's claws had dug in. He eyed the bandages warily, wondering who had treated his injuries. Whoever it was would have seen that his blood was dark blue, not red; it would have been impossible for them not to notice. The ribbon device was gone. He looked around for it but didn't find it. Instead, he discovered his snakeskin coat draped over a chair, next to a pile of shredded fabric that had been his shirt. Someone had taken his boots off, and what remained of his pants lay next to the ruined shirt.

A female doctor materialized at his side. He blinked at her, not recognizing her at all. She looked him over, checked his pupils and his pulse, made a note on her datapad, and glared at him. He stared at her blankly. They traded looks for a long moment. Then she put the pad down and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I shouldn't be letting you go yet, but with your ribs bandaged you shouldn't have too much trouble, and you appear to be a fast healer," she commented. Then she shot him the evil eye. "However, that does _not _mean that you can go and get yourself banged up again. Clear?"

"Yes," he replied, nodding. "Unlike some people, I know better." He glanced in the direction of Ratchet, who was cursing a blue streak while repairing Sideswipe.

"Finally, someone with some common sense," the doctor groaned with relief. Then she glared at him again, her glare not as nasty as previously. "But I do want you to take it easy. You have three broken ribs and several more that are badly cracked. If you damage or break any more ribs, I'll nail your hide to my office door. Understood?"

"Understood." Ultra Rodimus looked down at himself. "Uhm, is there something around here for me to wear?"

She chuckled. "Oh, you can stay like that, if you ask me."

He glared at her, but it lacked a great deal of its usual power. She only grinned, looking him up and down and then batting her eyes at him. In the back of his mind he felt Magnus's presence stir.

"I already have a partner," Ultra Rodimus informed her.

"I figured as much when I saw that." She indicated the silver ring on his right hand, its surface engraved with delicate designs and set with three stones, a diamond, a ruby, and a sapphire. "That could only have been given to you by someone who loves you. I don't intend to get between you and him, anyway."

Ultra Rodimus tensed. "Him?"

She grinned at him. "Female intuition." She pointed to a pile of folded fabric on the table. "Spike had to go shopping to find clothes to fit someone your size." She patted his shoulder, then walked away.

He watched her go, then quickly got dressed and pulled on his coat. Finding a mirror, he looked at his reflection and sighed. The clothes chosen for him turned out to be a pair of jeans, not tight but close enough, and a dark blue shirt that fit close enough to show off his physique. Catching sight of the female doctor smirking at him, he shot her a glare and she disappeared with a laugh.

_Females, _he thought to himself.

((Doesn't look too bad,)) Falcon put in helpfully.

(Never trust a female to choose clothes for a good-looking male,) Ultra Rodimus grumbled back.

Magnus, who'd been listening to his thoughts, looked through his eyes at the mirror and felt compelled to add his two cents' worth. ((I agree with Falcon, lover-mine. You look great.))

(And that's the problem. Now I'm going to have a whole swarm of females after me.)

His mate chuckled. ((Too bad for them. You're already taken, and I don't intend to give you up.))

(Don't you have trainees to torment or something?)

The city commander sent him a broad mental grin, and Ultra Rodimus could easily visualize the smirk he knew his mate was sporting. Then Magnus turned his attention back to whatever he was doing.

The instant Ultra Rodimus stepped out of the room and into the main medical bay, the eyes of every female in the area were fixed on him. He gave them all a sour look, but they weren't deterred in the least. He shot the doctor a 'wither and die' look as he stalked over to the entrance and left the repair bay.

Once outside, he paused and pondered where he should go. He'd just made up his mind to go back to where he'd first appeared and look for a way home when he heard footsteps approaching. He turned to look for the source and found himself scooped off the floor, gently so as not to cause any more damage to his mistreated ribs. Letting out an indignant yowl, he glared up at the bot who'd grabbed him.

Optimus Prime returned his glare with cool optics. The Autobot leader quick-walked to his office, locked the door, and deposited Ultra Rodimus on the desk. Then he sat down behind the desk and eyed the furious humanoid.

"And just what circuit misfired in your tiny little brain to make you do that?" Ultra Rodimus demanded.

The older Autobot suppressed the urge to shudder and cringe back. "You are going to tell me exactly what your purpose here is," he replied calmly.

"I don't _have _a purpose here!" Ultra Rodimus exploded. "My arrival was a complete accident!"

"Then why do you refuse to tell us who you are and where you come from?"

"Because I can't, you tin-plated idiot!"

"Can't or won't?" Optimus's optics narrowed.

"Can't," Ultra Rodimus repeated. "Can not. Get that through your thick skull!"

"And why not?"

"Because it is too dangerous!"

"Too dangerous for what?"

Ultra Rodimus tightened his jaw and said nothing. His blazing green eyes bored holes through Optimus's blue.

Optimus regarded the person calling himself Roddy and carefully examined everything he'd managed to deduce so far. A stranger who wouldn't tell them his real name, the look in his eyes when he encountered certain Autobots, the look that said he knew them but they were no longer among the living, the strange weapon he possessed, the fact that he carried the Matrix, the implication that it would be far too dangerous for Roddy to reveal anything...

He was no great science whiz, but the pieces were falling into place. The faint suspicion he'd developed became a near-certainty. He had the sinking feeling that he knew what it was Roddy was hiding. And before his conscious mind could stop him, he said it aloud.

"It's too dangerous because if you reveal anything it might change the course of the future," he stated thoughtfully.

**To be continued...**

That's another one down. And Fenestrae, he couldn't use Falcon on Starscream because the blast would have vaporized Screamer, and that would irrevocally change the future. So he couldn't risk it. Even a scratch to a Decepticon in the past might change the future.


	8. Merging

Author's Note: I had some time on my hands, so I decided to get started on this. I still have one exam to write, so I'm not sure if this chapter will be posted before I have to write it. Sorry for the delay, but you know how it is. Also, I am in the process of rewriting 'A New Life' to make it fit into the series. It's one of the first fics I wrote, when this series wasn't even a thought in the depths of my mind, and it shows. So I decided to get it rewritten so that it fits in with the rest of the series. Updates will be a bit slower during the rewrite. Please bear with me.

Disclaimer: I already told you who's mine and who isn't. If you still don't know, see previous chapters.

**Past and Future**

**Chapter 6: Merging**

Ultra Magnus stared at Jazz, leaning heavily on the back of his mate's chair to keep from falling over. "He what?" he breathed.

"He picked Roddy up and took him to his office for a private discussion," the special ops agent repeated. "Roddy was not happy about it. He protested the entire way. I'm surprised Optimus managed to get him there without losing any limbs."

"What were they discussing?" Silverbolt asked.

The Porsche shrugged. "Damned if I know. Whatever it was, Optimus kept it to himself. Didn't breathe a word of it at all. Only he and Roddy know what was said in that office, and neither one was talking."

The red and blue city commander tilted his head, listening to the lifebond. The other Autobots fell silent, waiting for him to finish whatever conversation he was having with Ultra Rodimus. A smile touched the second-in-command's face, and his eyes showed a faint sparkle of humor. Whatever Ultra Rodimus was saying obviously amused the large bot. Finally, chuckling to himself, Magnud returned his attention to the others.

"What did the boss have to say?" Blaster asked.

"He was grumbling about the clothes he was given to replace the ones Ravage shredded," Magnus replied, trying and failing to suppress his chuckling.

"What clothes?" Hot Spot wondered.

"My father and I aren't as tall as he is, and there was no one else his size working around the Ark at that point," Spike answered, a grin spreading across his face. "Doc Winters sent me out to get him some clothes. Let me tell you, finding clothing for someone as tall as he is isn't easy. I ended up bringing back a pair of jeans and a dark blue shirt that fit him a little closer than he'd've liked. Not skin tight, but close enough that there wasn't much left to the imagination. For the rest of his time in the Ark he had a swarm of drooling human females following him everywhere." He looked up at Ultra Rodimus's lifemate, who was eyeing him suspiciously, actually bristling. "Don't give me that look, Magnus; he was smart enough not to let himself get caught. He actually discovered most of the hiding places that the rest of us made use of later on."

Slowly, the armor plates on Magnus's shoulders and upper back, which had actually managed to peel off and stand out straight, dropped back to their usual positions with a series of muted clicks. Just as slowly, Magnus relaxed.

Kup looked from Spike to Magnus and back again, then decided to change the subject. "Jazz, can you tell us what happened after Optimus and Ultra Rodimus had their private discussion?"

"Sure." Jazz thought for a moment. "Well, at first they acted as if nothing had changed, but I noticed that Optimus came out of there with dents on his neck that matched Ultra Rodimus's handspan, like this." He held his hands out in front of him, as if he were gripping the throat of some unseen foe. "They were pretty deep, so Roddy must've gotten a really good grip on him."

Magnus blinked. "Optimus must've said something _really _stupid if Ultra Rodimus tried to manually strangle him."

"I'll bet, knowing Optimus." Jazz dug through his memories. "I can't remember anything else while Roddy was there, but afterward Optimus and Wheeljack put their heads together on some top-secret project. I managed to sneak a look at it a few years later; it was a set of blueprints and schematics for a humanoid Transformer."

Smokescreen sat bolt upright. "Didn't Ultra Rodimus say that he heard Wheeljack's voice while he was being rebuilt?"

"He did," Magnus agreed.  
"So Wheeljack designed him, but never got to start construction before he was killed. Wheeljack designed Ultra Rodimus."

"And it was Optimus who started him designing Ultra Rodimus," Sideswipe commented. "But that means..."

"Optimus knows about Ultra Rodimus, seen him in his true form," Magnus finished. "Ultra Rodimus has to tell Optimus, or the future will be changed!"

"Then you'd better warn him."

Magnus nodded and turned his attention toward the lifebond.

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Optimus wasn't exactly sure how he'd arrived at that conclusion, but all the pieces fit. He'd been thinking out loud when he'd made that guess, but it must have been the right guess. Roddy's face went as pale as his hair. And that provided all the confirmation he needed. He pounced on the opening like a cat on a mouse.

"You're from the future," he announced, staring at Roddy.

The silver-haired Autobot human swallowed visibly. "I can't tell you that."

"But it's true, isn't it," Optimus pressed.

Ultra Rodimus just stared up at him, as white as a sheet. The truth was out, the future would be changed!

((Beloved!)) Magnus shouted.

(Mags... he knows...)

((You have to tell him!))

(WHAT!)

((Jazz says that after you left Optimus had Wheeljack start designing a humanoid Transformer, one he designed but never built. That Transformer is you! You have to tell him, or you'll erase yourself from existance!))

The urgency in his mate's voice drove home the seriousness of the situation. Reluctantly, he agreed. Magnus withdrew, but remained in the back of his mind.

While he'd been conversing with his mate Optimus had been studying him, and the older Autobot had noticed the ring Ultra Rodimus wore. He recognized what it symbolized, but instead of keeping his mouth shut he let his frustration get the better of him, and made some very insulting, extremely rude comments about Ultra Rodimus's relationship with his mate, comments that will not be repeated here.

There are some things you just don't say to Ultra Rodimus.

Ultra Rodimus's eyes flashed. He'd already had enough trouble trying to keep his temper under the combined strain of keeping his origin secret, seeing people he'd rather not have seen, trying to find a way home, and Optimus Prime's attitude, but this was the last straw. He snapped.

With a choked roar he launched himself right at Optimus. The shift from human to robot was so fast Optimus couldn't make out what was happening. He was taken completely by surprise. One moment he was looking at a six foot six human, the next he was being pinned against his desk with a bot taller than he was gripping his throat. Metal creaked loudly as the larger bot squeezed, green eyes blazing with fury.

It was at that moment that Optimus realized he'd crossed a line he really shouldn't have crossed.

"If you kill me... you'll change the future," he gasped out, straining to talk through the tight grip Roddy had on his neck.

That grip loosened fractionally. Blazing green eyes studied him coldly. Then he was dropped, landing in a heap on the floor, gasping for breath to cool his overheating systems. Finally, he managed to look up at the other bot.

The human had become a bot who towered fully two heads taller than him; Optimus only stood as high as the faction insignia in the center of the other bot's chestplate. Smoke-grey armor marked with red and blue stripes covered a slender form, but that slenderness hid fearsome power. He showed no outward signs of what he transformed into, if he could transform at all. His overall build was apparently based on a humanoid shape instead of a purely robotic one. There were none of the blocky parts or projecting alternate mode appendages. The seams between armor plates were barely visible, and his joints seemed to have extra plates over the seams. He even had hair, hanging down his back in a braid as thick as his wrist. He still wore the patterned reptile-skin coat and boots.

"So this is your true form," Optimus commented as he dragged himself to his feet. "What is your real name?"

"I am called Ultra Rodimus," was the response. That deep bass voice was frigid.

Optimus shuddered, feeling ice trying to form on his armor. He'd clearly hit a nerve, a very big nerve. After a moment of thought, he managed to apologize. The larger bot didn't forgive him, but he did become less cold.

"I swear by the Matrix that no one will hear any of what you tell me," Optimus promised. "I have no wish to destroy my people's future." He tilted his head, looking closely at Ultra Rodimus. "You are fairly young, yes?"

Ultra Rodimus snorted. "I'm not even five million yet. What do you think?"

"The fact that you bear the Matrix means I must be dead," Optimus commented thoughtfully, and Ultra Rodimus winced faintly.

"True," was the reluctant answer.

The rest of the discussion continued along those lines. Optimus asked questions and Ultra Rodimus answered. He revealed as little as possible, deliberately being vague with certain details and leaving other details out altogether. He refused to mention specific dates or even hint at a timeline, but Optimus managed to pick out things he hadn't said and pry out further clarifications. He learned that he would die in battle and that his successor would be named Rodimus Prime, and he figured out for himself that Ultra Rodimus was an older version of Rodimus. The colors of the gems set in the ring Ultra Rodimus wore allowed Optimus to guess who his mate was. That was when Optimus decided that he really didn't want to know much more and began asking about Ultra Rodimus himself. The younger Prime explained that he was a Transformer, even though he didn't look like one, and transformed into each of his alternate modes. He also learned that it had been Wheeljack who had designed Ultra Rodimus.

"Perhaps you can go home the same way you got here," Optimus mused.

"I hope so." Ultra Rodimus morphed back to human.

Optimus rose to his feet and picked up the transformed Prime, carrying him out to where Prowl had found him. They found the time window, all right, and it was about to collapse.

"You have to go now!"

"Tell me something I don't know!" Ultra Rodimus yelled back at him, then waved and ran through the collapsing time corridor.

**To be continued...**

And there's another chapter down. The next one should be written sometime next week, hopefully. Yeah, Gromia, he can be smart at times, but other times he can be about as thick as a telephone pole. And that would have been funny, Fenestrae, and Starscream would've deserved it, but Ultra Roddy couldn't risk altering the timeline. So he went with the less dangerous weapon, relatively speaking, of course; that ribbon device is deadly if used correctly.


	9. Unwinding

Author's Note: I apologize for the delay, but circumstances have been against me lately. I've been hip-deep in exams and now it's essay season. I'll try to update again as soon as possible, but it will be difficult.

The last chapter of this story did not go as planned. I guess that's what happens when you lose your train of thought five and six times before finally getting to write. Things tend to get changed. This chapter may be a bit short, and I apologize for that. The next chapter will be longer.

Disclaimer: I think you know the drill.

**Past and Future**

**Chapter 7: Unwinding**

Ultra Magnus blinked to clear his optics. "He's not happy about having to tell Optimus. I think I'm in for it later."

"Why?" Scattershot asked. "You didn't do anything."

"He won't shoot the messenger, but that won't stop him from getting back at him in other ways." Magnus shuddered. "He was trying so hard to keep the future a secret and then he found out that he has to tell or the future will be changed. He's not happy about it. And since I'm the bearer of bad news, it's going to be me who gets it."

"He won't hurt you," Bumblebee commented. "At least not much."

Sideswipe and a few others snickered.

Sunstreaker grunted. "Back then I was glad he left."

"You were jealous because even as a human he's more handsome that you are," his brother teased. "You didn't like his presence because people were admiring him and not you."

The gold Lamborghini glared at him.

"You should have heard him complaining!" Cliffjumper chuckled. "He spent weeks going on and on about how the 'puny flesh creature' stole his crowd of admirers. Of course, back then Sunny was still in full vain bastard mode. He's thawed out slightly since then, probably because Ultra Rodimus still eclipses him in terms of looks, but back then we were almost ready to raid Ratchet's supply of sedatives to make him shut up."

"I know of at least a dozen human men who were also glad to see him go," Spike added. "Their complaint was that he was stealing their ladies. About a week later I informed them that he could've had every female within a hundred miles at his feet if he'd wanted to, but the ring he wore said he already had a partner and wasn't interested in anyone else."

Even Magnus had to laugh at that, more because he could just imagine how Ultra Rodimus would have reacted to that jealousy. The young Prime had a way with words and a talent for taking people down a few pegs when he had to.

"Not that I blamed them for being jealous," Spike commented thoughtfully, then caught Magnus's sharp look. "I'm just saying! Even you have to admit that Roddy has an exotic beauty, and he's handsome enough to make even men look twice. He could've assembled a drooling female harem any time he wanted to, but even without knowing he was lifebonded I could tell he was the one-partner type."

The city commander eyed him for a long moment, then relaxed. He was about to say something else when his head went up and his eyes glazed over. The others waited patiently for him to return his attention to them.

"He's coming back!" Magnus was out the door in a second, the others scrambling to follow.

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The time window was in a state of collapse. The edges were beginning to unravel and fray, the tattered edges tearing at Ultra Rodimus's human form. He felt himself beginning to shift shape, the morph from human to robot being accompanied by a stab of pain shooting through his chest. Tendrils of temporal energy wrapped around his shifting form, sizzling and burning where they touched metal or flesh. More pain rippled along nerves that were in the process of becoming circuits, and the transformation from flesh to metal only made the pain worse. He struggled against flailing tentacles of burning energy as they tried to hold him back, inside the collapsing anomaly.

Finally, the tendrils gave way and he was spit out of the time corridor, landing hard on a metal surface. Some instinct in the back of his pain-hazed mind urged him to run, but all he could do was slowly drag himself away from the raging mass of raw energy. His fingers dug into the metal, creating handholds that he used to half crawl, half slither away from the storm.

He wasn't fast enough.

The time window blew.

The unleashed blast of energy picked him up like a leaf in a tornado and sent him crashing through a wall thirty yards away. His half-formed exo-armor shell was badly scorched by the explosion. The pain had slowed his thought processes considerably, and the impact scattered most of the wits he'd managed to collect. He lay there for a long moment, stunned, panting as his air intakes attempted to cool his overheating systems. Finally he'd regained enough mental clarity to begin attempts to climb out of the pile of debris he'd landed in. He was just crawling out when his mate and the others arrived.

Magnus transformed and ran over to him, dragging him the rest of the way out of the heap and promptly enfolding him in a tight embrace. Ultra Rodimus grunted as his mate's grip compressed his still-not-quite-formed torso (his current state of near-unconsciousness and the effects from the time window's explosion having slowed down his morph back to robot), forcing the air out of him and sending more pain, this time from still broken infrastructure rods (his 'ribcage'), shooting through his chest.

"Magnus let go, Roddy can't breathe," he gasped out, his voice a least an octave higher than normal. Magnus's grip loosened immediately. Ultra Rodimus sucked in a huge breath of air, wobbled on his feet, then passed out completely and went down like a felled tree. Magnus caught him, lifting his unconscious lover into his arms.

"Get him to Repair Bay," First Aid commanded.

In Iacon's Medbay, the Protectobot medic dragged in all his equipment and began running scans on his leader. Ultra Rodimus's armor was scorched black, about three inches of his braid had been burned off, and Sandstorm had had to cut off another inch to get rid of the scorched, broken ends. The Paradronian and Magnus were lurking off to one side, Sandstorm because he knew more than most about Ultra Rodimus's exostructure and Magnus because he could find damage that even First Aid couldn't.

First Aid eyed his monitors, then looked at Magnus. "Can you influence his morphing ability?"

"I'm not sure. Why?"

"He's not quite finished shifting back to robot. That's why his armor is so much weaker than usual. There's still a lot of organic tissue in his body. I can't begin repairs until he's finished morphing."

The red and blue Autobot frowned thoughtfully, then reached through the lifebond into his mate's mind, searching until he had a rough idea of how the morphing was controlled. Narrowing his optics absently, he turned his own will to the task and was rewarded when molecules began to move, scrambling and rearranging until Ultra Rodimus was fully robotic again.

The medic let out a soft sound and immediately dove into the repair work, aided by Ultra Rodimus's own internal repair systems. He left the task of repairing the outer armor and sealing the tears to Ultra Rodimus's own body, focusing his own attention on the broken infrastructure rods surrounding the younger robot's chest cavity. Ultra Rodimus's skeletal structure was built along the same lines as a human's, only out of a light but incredibly strong metal instead of bone. The broken ends had to come out until First Aid could repair the underlying circuitry, then held firmly in place with wire and bolts until Ultra Rodimus's repair systems could cover the breaks with new metal.

Movement at his side made First Aid look up and see Perceptor. The scientist was working on Ultra Rodimus's right arm, the creature on which was whimpering painfully. Falcon had been scorched pretty badly, but he'd somehow avoided being directly hit by the temporal energy. That had probably saved his life.

"How's Falcon?" Perceptor asked Magnus.

A frown creased the bridge of the Autobot second-in-command's nose. Magnus was silent for a moment. "He says it's mostly surface damage, on his skin but not going any deeper. He's reacting more to Roddy's pain than his own."

"That metal alloy that merged with his skin after he came back with the big guy provides him more protection than he would've had if he was a normal skrill," First Aid commented. "He should be grateful for that."

Magnus chuckled. "He is."

It took three hours of repair work before First Aid resealed the young Prime's chestplate and moved him to the recovery wing. Ultra Rodimus's own repair systems dealt with the damage that remained within a few hours. Almost a day after his return, he came to.

Blaster walked into the small room to see Ultra Rodimus sitting up and First Aid running a last series of scans to make sure there was no lingering damage. Magnus leaned against the wall, watching. All three looked up as the communications officer walked in.

"Good to see you up and about," Blaster told his leader. "Just in time, too."

"Just in time for what?" Ultra Rodimus asked.

"I just received a signal on an older Autobot comm frequency. It's from the female Autobots."

Ultra Rodimus straightened. "What did they say?"

"They're on their way here." Blaster paused. "Elita's with them. They've been out of touch for so long I'm not sure they know about Optimus..."

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Elita-1 and a small group of other females followed the large green and silver male through Iacon's corridors, wondering why every male they passed either refused to look in their direction or watched them with sorrow in their optics. She wondered what they knew that she didn't. Something had happened, something she wasn't sure she wanted to know about. No one was saying anything and that made her uneasy.

The male introduced as Springer led them to the Repair Bay on Iacon's lower levels and toward one of the rooms. Elita perked up, hoping to finally see her mate again.

"In here." Springer opened the door for them, but remained outside. The females filed in.

Off to one side stood a strange robot, colored yellow and orange. He watched them calmly. The familiar bulk of Ultra Magnus stood beside the only med table in the room. And on the table sat a stranger.

Elita stared at the other bot, a young one by the look of him, oddly built yet quite handsome, colored in grey, red, and blue. He was watching her out of green eyes with slit black pupils, and there was sadness in his gaze. Despite his obvious youth, he possessed an aura of authority and wisdom.

"Who is this?" Elita finally demanded. "Where is Prime?"

"Before you," Magnus rumbled softly. "Elita-1, I introduce to you Ultra Rodimus Prime, leader of the Autobots."

The femmes stared at the silver male. He nodded slightly, his eyes never leaving them.

"If he's..." Elita breathed, "where is Optimus?"

Pain crossed Magnus's face. Ultra Rodimus closed his eyes and lowered his head, and that told the femme commander all she needed to know. Her beloved was dead, and the young bot was his successor.

"How?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly.

Ultra Rodimus sighed heavily. "It is a long story..."

**To be continued...**

(looks over chapter) Wow. This was longer than I thought it would be. Anyway, this is the last chapter dealing with the future. The next, and last, chapter will be set in the past, dealing with the aftermath of Ultra Rodimus's presence and answering the question of what inspired Wheeljack to design a humanoid Transformer. Remember, to get more story you have to send me reviews, and that means more than one person has to review this chapter. Yes, Fenestrae, there are times Optimus seems to have a death wish. That is demonstrated by all versions of Optimus Prime through every Transformers series with him in it. This time, he just didn't know what he was dealing with. And the lesson seems to have skipped him entirely.


	10. Separating

Author's Note: This will be the last real chapter of this story, but I will be adding a short epilogue in a few days' time, I hope. Thank you to all those who read and liked this story.

Disclaimer: I only own Ultra Rodimus and Falcon.

**Past and Future**

**Chapter 8: Separating**

Optimus Prime stood in the desert sand, staring thoughtfully at the space that had only moments ago been occupied by a raging temporal phenomenon. The time window was gone, and the gentle breeze blew sand through the space it had once been. After a long moment, he turned and walked back into the Ark.

Ratchet eyed him curiously, then turned his attention to the deep handprints left in Prime's neck armor. They were the prints of a bot significantly larger than the Autobot leader, larger and apparently quite a bit stronger. The medic asked a few pointed questions as to the origin of those prints, which clearly hinted that a bot larger than Prime had made an attempt to throttle him, but Prime didn't answer. He was thinking, his mind so far away that he didn't even hear Ratchet's questions.

Once he was back in his own office, he sat at his desk, ignoring the paperwork still waiting for his attention, and stared absently at a point high on the wall. His visitor had given him a lot to think about.

The strange male had been an Autobot, the Autobot leader, Optimus's successor to the position of Matrix-Bearer. He'd been cornered into telling Prime exactly who he was and where he was from. While he hadn't gone into any real detail, deliberately being vague about what was to come, Prime had learned a great deal, possibly more than Ultra Rodimus had thought. Reading between the lines had told Prime much of what hadn't been said, especially concerning his own death. And much about the one who was to take over for him. One detail stuck out in his mind.

Ultra Rodimus had said that he had been designed by Wheeljack, and Optimus had been able to spot telltale signs that marked the inventor's handiwork. That meant that Wheeljack had been working on the young Prime's schematics for a long time but had never gotten the time or resources to build him. The way the Matrix had pulsed in his chest during the telling indicated that it, and therefore Primus, had a great deal to do with why Ultra Rodimus was circuits and steel instead of still being on the drawing board. But how had Wheeljack gotten the idea to design a humanoid Transformer?

Optimus's mind made several connections and a few things fell into place. He reached out and grabbed a large "drawing board", like an oversized datapad but for drawing diagrams instead of writing lists or reports, a pencil equivalent, and began roughly sketching Ultra Rodimus's outline. He only did outlines of Ultra Rodimus's robot form and his various alternate modes, not adding any details that could identify the sketch as being anything other than an idea put on "paper". Then he summoned Wheeljack.

The inventor trotted in. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes." Optimus tapped the edge of the sketching board absently, drawing Wheeljack's attention to the images on its surface. Once he realized what he was seeing his attention was rivetted. He circled the desk to get a better look. "If you were to design a Transformer who looked like a human and yet had several different alternate modes, what would the result be?"

Wheeljack rubbed his chin, mind already hard at work. "Hmm. May I take this?"

"Go ahead."

The inventor snatched up the sketch and vanished out the door.

Prime made a point of checking in with Wheeljack at least once a day. He and the Lancia collaborated on the design, Optimus subtly steering Wheeljack's designs toward what he knew the result would be. The black and white bot gave no signs he realized he was being manipulated. He enthusiastically pounced on every one of Prime's "suggestions" and incorporated it into the schematics. A few of Ultra Rodimus's most visible characteristics Prime was a bit hesitant to point out, not having any explanations for them. Fortunately, Wheeljack came up with them on his own.

"Because of all the machinery that goes with the multiple alternate modes and his weapons systems, he's going to have to be big," the inventor muttered. "A head taller than you, at least."

"Closer to two heads taller," Optimus corrected, leaning over his shoulder. "He's going to need a larger laser core and an extra fuel pump."

Manipulating Wheeljack was turning out to be easier than he'd anticipated. He had a suspicion that the Matrix was getting itself involved, but the relic was quiet on the subject, and every other subject. It had quieted down considerably once Ultra Rodimus had left, leaving him with only the usual background awareness of its presence.

Finally the details of Ultra Rodimus's robot form were hammered out and the schematics were drawn. Wheeljack commented that the new design was more complex than anything he'd ever built, more complex than any other Transformer in history, and that it may take the rest of his lifetime to actually build him. Then they turned their attention to planning his various alternate modes.

The truck form was the easiest to finish. Wheeljack had a lot of fun with the trailer section, an armory and battle platform in one. Optimus hadn't seen the inside of Ultra Rodimus's trailer, but after seeing what Wheeljack had designed he was stuck by a surge of jealousy. His trailer had only one launcher stored inside; Ultra Rodimus had six, of three different types, that could be detached from the main platform and used independently. It also stored enough weapons, both energy and bladed, to outfit the entire Autobot army twice over.

The designing was frequently broken down into occasional chunks, especially after contact with Cybertron was reestablished. More warriors of both factions arrived, Wheeljack had other things to take care of, and he was only able to bring out and work on what had become his and Prime's pet project in the calm periods between crises. The next mode to be fully drawn out was the jet form. Wheeljack, like all Autobots seething about most Autobots not being able to fly, went to great lengths to make Ultra Rodimus's jet form a force to be reckoned with. A late-night viewing of "Star Wars" with some other Autobots gave Wheeljack an idea. Right after the movie was over he raced to his lab and drew up the schematics for what would be Ultra Rodimus's third transform, a starfighter.

After the creation of the Dinobots, Wheeljack set about learning all he could about dinosaurs. He studied the Dinobots to get an idea of their strengths and weaknesses. Once he'd accumulated all the data he needed, he drew up the plans for a dinosaur mode, giving it all the advantages he could think of. He made it fast, strong, agile, arming it with razor-sharp teeth and claws as well as a number of very powerful laser cannons and even a few missile pods.

Jazz, who's wandered into Wheeljack's lab looking for someone to talk to, looked over the finished design and let out a low whistle. "That's not a critter I'd want to get in the way of. That thing looks even more formidable than Grimlock!"

"This Transformer will be able to stomp Grimlock into the ground," Wheeljack replied, looking at the drawings proudly. "It has both great power and is as intelligent as any other Autobot."

"How long would it take you to build it? We need some of that power if we're to last against Megatron."

"I'm not even close to being finished."

The special ops officer shrugged. "Too bad. We need the help." He pulled out the image of the robot form and scanned it curiously. "A humanoid Transformer?"

"Yeah."

Jazz put the sketches down. "Good luck workin' on it, man." He sauntered out.

A study of Earth's wildlife resulted in the finished schematics for the serpent, scorpion, and shark modes. Overhearing a conversation about native American myths provided the inspiration for the thunderbird form. Intrigued by the mythical creature, the inventor dug into the myths and legends of other cultures, choosing creatures that would make workable alternate modes. Optimus blinked at the new designs, recalling that Ultra Rodimus had mentioned having modes not even he had discovered yet.

The designs were finally all finished in the year 2005, just days before the horrific final battle at Autobot City.

Wheeljack's "wings" drooped nearly parallel to his sides as he sat in the Matrix, staring blankly at the curving barrier that was the Matrix's shell. The precious plans lay in his lap, representing a life that would never be. He looked down at then, then tossed them aside.

"Now why did you do that?" Optimus, who'd arrived not too long after Wheeljack had, gathered up the scattered pages and neatly bundled them.

"The bot drawn on those pages will never become a reality," was the dull response.

"What makes you so sure?"

The other bot looked up at him incredulously. "How could he one day exist when I'm in here and the schematics were destroyed?"

A smile lit the older bot's optics. "Anything is possible, my friend."

Wheeljack eyed him for a moment, then took the schematics back and looked them over. Optimus watched him for a moment, then returned to his own vigil.

He watched through Ultra Magnus's eyes, aided by the Matrix, as the survivors of the battle began the lengthy cleanup of their ruined city. It would take a long time to get it repaired. Much of it would need to be completely rebuilt.

Sensing a presence at his side, he turned to see Primus himself standing next to him. The creation god's eyes were glazed, glowing with a faintly panicked light. He obviously sensed something.

"What is it?" Optimus asked.

The god's red and yellow body, very similar to Hot Rod in appearance, shook slightly, getting a faint rattle from his armor. He was clearly unnerved by something.

"What?" Optimus repeated, now alarmed himself. Whatever could frighten a god must be terrible indeed.

Primus blinked as he returned to himself. He looked at the Autobot next to him. "Something I haven't sensed in a very long time, and which I'd hoped never to sense again." His voice was grim. Then his attention was caught by a new arrival.

The newcomer was somewhat faded, as if still somehow tied to his body. His silver-armored form was blurred or translucent around the edges, but he was still recognizable as Megatron.

"What happened to you?" Optimus blurted.

Red optics met his blue. "You don't want to know. I'm just glad to be out of there, and away from him."

"Away from who?"

The Decepticon leader was silent for a moment. "Unicron."

Primus shuddered again, his armor rattling audibly. Then it was his turn to pry for details. He managed to worm out the full tale.

Unicron had changed the dying Megatron into Galvatron, making the reborn Decepticon his servant. Megatron, however, had been too strong-willed and proud to submit to being nothing more than a slave, and during the reformatting part of his spark had torn loose. The rest was under Unicron's control, which explained why Megatron looked like a bad hologram.

When the full tale had been told, Primus's hands clenched into fists and he growled. Both Cybertronians looked at him.

"I assume you are familiar with Unicron," Optimus commented.

"Unfortunately." Primus ground his teeth, producing a metallic squeal as metal scraped on metal and making both sparks wince. "Unicron is my enemy, the dark god of chaos and destruction. For eons beyond counting he and I have fought. I thought him destroyed, but it appears that he has once again managed to survive."

The two Transformers exchanged glances, then turned their attention to what was happening in the outside world.

Galvatron led the Decepticons against the remaining Autobots on Earth, driving them out into space. From there the hunt continued, and the two shuttles were separated. One crashed on a strange-looking metal world. Galvatron ignored it and went after the other. The Autobots managed to gain a reprieve by separating the cargo section of their shuttle and running like hell while it was blown to pieces behind them. They made it to the Planet of Junk, where they tried to repair their crippled craft. They hadn't been there long when the Decepticons found them again. Magnus was destroyed and the Matrix stolen.

Primus caught Magnus's spark before it entered the Matrix, wrapping it in his own power and sending it back to the body. Magnus's time was not yet up. He still had work to do, and, if Optimus's suspicions about the ring Ultra Rodimus wore were right, someone waiting for him.

The Matrix was taken back to Cybertron, where Optimus saw Unicron for the first time.

The planet-sized chaos god radiated evil, so much that Optimus felt ill, Megatron snarled his hatred, and Primus tensed. The other millions of sparks residing inside the Matrix gradually began to notice the aura of pure evil surrounding them, and came to the open side of the crystal in ones and twos to see what was going on. As more and more of them noticed the evil presence, the small groups became steady streams, until the entire population of souls had congregated around the exposed face.

Galvatron attempted to use the Matrix to threaten Unicron. The dark god responded by revealing his true form, a colossal robot looming over the metal world. Turning toward Cybertron, he attacked.

The Decepticons swarmed up to engage him, trying to drive him away or destroy him. They were about as effective as a swarm of gnats attacking an elephant. He brushed them off with contemptuous ease.

The Autobot forces, allied with the Junkions, arrived.

Galvatron had been swallowed by the monster and was lurking somewhere in Unicron's gut, anger seething through him. The souls inside the Matrix were milling about in a panic, not hearing Optimus and Megatron's attempts to get them to calm down. Primus wasn't much help, every bit as worried as the others but able to keep his emotions under control. Even he didn't know what to do; if the Matrix was opened by anyone touched by Unicron it would be corrupted and the souls destroyed.

"Look!" Ironhide pointed.

Facing Galvatron was a young Autobot, his colors of red, orange, and yellow faded to blue and grey in the shadows. His blue optics glowed with determination, but Optimus could see pain and guilt behind it. With a shock he recognized Hot Rod.

Unicron forced Galvatron to attack the youngster. Hot Rod fought back admirably, but he was outmatched by the larger, stronger robot. He was seconds away from being killed by Galvatron when he managed to grab hold of the Matrix. Primus leaped into action.

Galvatron was shoved away by the power burst let loose. Hot Rod rolled to his feet, the glowing Matrix in his hands. Primus immediately began transforming the young bot into a larger, stronger form. For a moment Optimus just stared in puzzlement, then it clicked.

"Hot Rod... Rodimus! Of course!" He sprinted forward and jumped into the energies Primus was using to transform the young Autobot. Primus turned to look at him in surprise, but Optimus ignored him and used the energies to project his voice into the world of the living.

"Arise, Rodimus Prime!"

He knew he'd been heard when the new Prime whispered his name and Galvatron snarled, opening fire. The Matrix went flying. Rodimus glared at his enemy, then lunged. Galvatron was caught by surprise. He tried to fight back, but the new Prime matched his strength and this time had the advantage. Two hard punches stunned the Decepticon long enough for Rodimus to send him through Unicron's hull and out into space, kicking and screaming the whole time.

Rodimus watched him for a moment, then walked over to where the Matrix had fallen and picked it up. The brief delay had given Primus enough time to get the panicking souls to calm down and explain what he wanted them to do. Now all of them waited impatiently, eager to rush out and cause some damage.

Strong hands cradled the relic, its crystal glowing far more brightly than any of its previous bearers had ever seen before. Rodimus set his fingers into the grips, raising the Matrix to chest height. His optics were glowing almost as bright as the crystal itself.

"Now, light our darkest hour!"

He pulled.

The metal shell opened, releasing the souls inside. They burst forth in a wave of light, ripping into anything and everything they could reach. Primus went to take on Unicron while the souls gleefully tore Unicron's physical body apart.

Under the assault, Unicron didn't have a chance. Swamped with pain as his body was ripped to pieces by a vast swarm of pissed off sparks, he was unable to withstand Primus's furious attack. With one final scream the Planet-Eater died.

Rodimus settled into his new role. He was nervous and uncertain, but he handled it well. Magnus, repaired by the Junkions, and Kup served as his mentors and advisors. For months there was peace.

Then the Decepticons, with the now insane Galvatron in the lead, returned.

The battle was savage. For a while it appeared as though the Autobots were gaining the upper hand. Then Rodimus was blown almost in half.

The sparks cried out in alarm as Rodimus crashed to the ground, his entire midsection blown away. He was already beyond the ability of any medic to save his life. The suddenness of the fatal wound and the tidal wave of pain that accompanied it made Primus stagger, spacing out as his chosen's pain crashed over him.

"PRIMUS!"

"What?" Primus snapped out of his trance, still shuddering in shared agony.

A black and gold Autobot, Sentinel Prime, glared at him. "Do something! He can't die!"

Primus blinked. "And just what am I supposed to do?"

"Heal his wounds!" the entire crowd roared at him.

The god looked at Rodimus's dying form, then shook his head sadly. "I am sorry. They are too extensive."

"Then rebuild him!"

"As what?"

The crowd growled, not having an answer. Then Wheeljack remembered the schematics he'd spent so many years drawing and perfecting. He brought them out, looked at them, and the proverbial lightbulb came on. He pushed forward.

"Lend us your power and let us do the work!" he yelled, startling Primus. Wheeljack waved his handful of schematics in the deity's face. "I have the designs right here!"

Primus considered that, weighing the ups and downs, then finally nodded. Stepping aside, he gave them temporary use of his power and let them loose.

A flood of sparks swarmed out of the Matrix, covering the dying robot like ants on spilled soda. They promptly began taking the shattered body apart molecule by molecule, then began breaking down and reassembling the molecules. Using their borrowed power they created the new systems and circuits and everything else Wheeljack had designed, assembling the various parts in the blink of an eye. Most of the critical circuitry had been nearly impossible for a mortal creature to build or calibrate, but with the power of the god of creation they could do anything. While Optimus kept Rodimus's spark from reaching the Matrix, the others completed their work.

Finally they were finished. Optimus sent the spark back to its body, giving him the name Ultra Rodimus. Then he followed the others back to the Matrix.

As the years passed, Primus and Optimus kept an eye on Ultra Rodimus. He never failed to surprise them with his abilities and overall attitude. They were constantly learning something new about him.

Optimus was surprised to discover that Megatron was also watching the young Prime and even more surprised when he found out that Megatron was one of Ultra Rodimus's most enthusiastic supporters. When asked, Megatron explained that Galvatron was nothing more than an embarrassment, shaming the proud Decepticon name. He hated Galvatron with every fiber of his being and would therefore cheer on anyone who could beat the snot out of the twisted mental hospital escapee. Optimus chuckled, agreed, and both returned to watching for what would happen next.

As it turned out, a lot happened. Ultra Rodimus appeared to be a magnet for dimensional crossrips. and any other strange phenomena that could possibly occur to any one person. He took them in stride, never letting anything faze him. Then the time window appeared.

Wheeljack happened to be nearby when Ultra Rodimus ended up in the past, and the startled inventor joined Optimus and Megatron at the Matrix's exposed side. He watched, optics wide, as Ultra Rodimus and Optimus's past self faced off, resulting in Ultra Rodimus revealing exactly who and what he was. Then the light came on. Wheeljack turned to Optimus.

"You knew about him! That's why you had me draw up those schematics!"

Optimus smiled at him. "Yes, I did know. He had to tell me. I promised him that I wouldn't tell anyone, and I kept my promise."

The black and white bot stared at him, but couldn't find anything to say and went back to watching the proceedings. By the time Ultra Rodimus had gotten home a small crowd had gathered around the Matrix's "view screen".

"Well, that was amusing," Megatron commented, stretching and popping several joints. "Especially seeing him literally taking your hide off."

The former Prime shuddered at the memory. "I just hope I'll never have to go through anything like that again. Now sit down and keep your optics open. If the past is any indication, the future is going to be very exciting."

**To be continued...**

(Blinks) Wow. I wasn't expecting this chapter to be this long. Oh well. I should've split it into 2 chapters, but then it would've taken me another week or two to finish, and this plot bunny has claws. Hope you like this chapter.

Thank you to all of my reviewers for encouraging me to keep on writing. I don't know what I'd do without you. Oh, Fenestrae, has Admin gotten that kink out of their circuits about reviewer responses? I know of authors who still do that, and I'd like to know if it's safe for me to resume answering my reviewers, too.


	11. Epilogue

Author's Note: Ok, this is officially the end of this story. But don't panic. I don't intend to disappear. There will be more stories making appearances, as soon as a few of these darned plot bunnies go away. I've got plot bunnies for the next fic in the series, a fic that fits in just after "Transformation", and another couple of short fics, the first of which will make its appearance in a few days or so, if not later today. So keep an optic open for more fics, coming soon! Also, since I'm not really sure which femme is with which mech, I'm putting them with whoever seems best. Feel free to correct me if I get the pairings wrong.

Disclaimer: I say it every fic; if you don't know by now then you'd better get your memory circuits checked.

**Past and Future**

**Epilogue**

Elita-1 sat in her quarters, still in shock. She had come to Iacon in the hopes of seeing her mate again, only to learn that he had been killed in battle by Megatron. Her small team wasn't in much better shape, having learned that two of the three had lost their men as well. Chromia had broken down in tears after learning of Ironhide's death, and Moonracer had been in a similar state over Prowl. Firestar was the only one of the trio who hadn't lost her mate.

After learning of Optimus's death and Hot Rod's role in it, and then finding out that Ultra Rodimus had once been Hot Rod, Elita had gone after the new Prime with the intentions of getting the full story. Ultra Rodimus had told her exactly what had happened. Overwhelmed with anger and pain, she'd hurled herself at him, accusing him of murder and several other, more unmentionable offences. She'd gotten a few good hits in before four other mechs managed to drag her off their leader, hissing and spitting the entire time. They had dragged her out and proceeded to tell her the tale of Rodimus Prime's death and rebirth as Ultra Rodimus, emphasizing that Optimus had forgiven the younger bot for what he had done. First Aid had then informed her that Optimus's wounds had been fatal even before Hot Rod had gotten involved.

The ferocity with which they'd defended Ultra Rodimus had startled her, momentarily shocking her out of her anger. Once she'd become rational again, much of her anger had drained away, leaving only the pain behind. After the others had finally left her alone, she'd gone to the computer terminal in her quarters and called up Ultra Rodimus's file.

It made for some very astonishing reading.

Ultra Rodimus had gone through a hell of a lot in the four years he'd been leading the Autobots. He'd undergone more dimensional shifts than she could shake a stick at, a nearly fatal torture session at the hands of a madwoman, he'd nearly lost his bondmate in battle, he'd slaughtered thousands in the grip of a berserk rage. The young bot had seen more than his fair share of traumas and they had left their marks on him. The scars he would forever bear, the memories that haunted his dreams, the knowledge that a demon lurked deep within his spark. He had his own burdens to bear, and he was coping with them.

Reading all of the information in his file had given her a lot to think about. And think she had. Her mind was never still. Whenever she tried to turn her attention elsewhere her thoughts would always go back to Ultra Rodimus. Finally, she gave in and followed that line of thinking until it reached its conclusion.

Reaching a decision, she stood up and headed for the young Prime's office.

Ultra Rodimus was seated behind his desk, hard at work. Sandstorm was a silent presence off to one side. He looked up as she entered, smiled at her, and quietly slipped out of the office. Elita watched him go, then turned back to the desk.

Emerald eyes tracked across the screen of the desktop terminal. A pen absently tapped against an index finger. Every now and then a datapad would move from the 'In' pile to the 'Out' pile, which was slowly but steadily growing larger. Elita wondered how long he actually spent in that office, and if Magnus ever had to physically drag him out.

She advanced slowly. The other bot was so absorbed in his work that he didn't even notice her. Elita stood in front of the desk for a long moment, just watching him, then cleared her throat to catch his attention.

The unexpected sound startled him into jumping, almost upsetting his chair. His head flew up, eyes as wide as saucers, caught completely by surprise. He stared at her for a moment before closing his eyes and getting himself back under control.

"Sorry," she told him. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"It isn't the first time." He shook his head slightly, then looked at her again. His gaze was curious, but Elita could see that he was tense. "Why are you here?"

"To apologize."

He tilted his head, but said nothing.

Elita hesitated, then forced herself to continue. "I wrongly accused and assaulted you. For that I apologize. I should not have acted before gathering all the facts."

He sighed, dropping his pen onto the desk. "You were in pain and you reacted. I've done the same thing more than once. I don't blame you for your actions. The others, however, can be notorious for holding grudges."

She actually smiled. "Like some of my femmes."

Ultra Rodimus grinned at her, leaning back in his chair. "Elita, you don't have to like me, but you will have to work with me. I lead the male group, you lead the female group. Eventually we're going to have to work together. Please don't try and chew my head off whenever we run into each other. I get enough of that from other people."

The femme commander laughed. "Agreed. I'll try not to tear you apart when we meet." She gave him a small salute, then darted out of the office. She made it halfway down the hall before the flung pen caught up with her.

The young Autobot leader leaned back in his chair, ignoring the screech of protest it let out. He and Elita would meet again, he knew. She was an excellent warrior and commander. He looked forward to working with her.

Smiling to himself, he returned to his work.

**Fin.**

Whew! And this one is finished. Now I can get rid of that pesky plot bunny. Stay tuned for more of the Ultra Rodimus series, coming soon.

Now you can send me reviews and tell me what you thought of this story. Reviews will encourage me to keep on writing, and perhaps to get some of my fics out sooner. So send me some juicy reviews. Fenestrae, I've only read one fic that had a 'from inside the Matrix' perspective, and that one's not even on this site. So I decided to give it a try myself. And Gromia, _now _the fic is finished.

See you all next fic!


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